I’ll post open thread comments from now on. This was just something that has been on my mind for so long that it became too familiar to be identified as imprudent.
I’ve been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation as a kid and still remember a subset of this problem to be faced by the Q Continuum. I think Q said that most of its kind committed suicide for that there was nothing new to be discovered out there.
But the main point came to my mind when skimming over what some utilitarians had to say. And people on LW considering the amount of happiness that a future galactic civilization may bear. Now if the universe was infinite, that be absolutely true. But if indeed most of the time is that of decay, especially given an once striving civilization, is the overall payoff still positive?
Fictional evidence:
Q as allegedly the last born—but where are his parents? And what about the ‘true Q’ from her own episode? They fight a freaking war over Qs wish to reproduce, but do not allow one guy to commit suicide. But handing out powers or taking them away is easy as cake.
Not particular consistent.
If time comes to build a universe wide civilization, then there will be many minds to ponder all the questions. We do not have to get that right now. (Current physics only allows for colonization of the local group anyhow.) If we put in enough effort to solve the GUT there might be some way around the limitations of the universe, or we will find another way to deal with them—as has been the case many times before.
Now is a great time to build an amazing future, but not yet the time to end reproduction.
Oh my god! Are you really telling me about fictional evidence here? That is what I criticize to be the case with this whole community. Why am I not allowed to use it?
Anyway, my post is not based on fictional evidence but physics and basic economics.
It’s a matter of not creating so many minds in the first place. Minds that the universe is unable to sustain in the short run. Yes, most of the future will be unable to support all those minds.
I’ll post open thread comments from now on. This was just something that has been on my mind for so long that it became too familiar to be identified as imprudent.
I’ve been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation as a kid and still remember a subset of this problem to be faced by the Q Continuum. I think Q said that most of its kind committed suicide for that there was nothing new to be discovered out there.
But the main point came to my mind when skimming over what some utilitarians had to say. And people on LW considering the amount of happiness that a future galactic civilization may bear. Now if the universe was infinite, that be absolutely true. But if indeed most of the time is that of decay, especially given an once striving civilization, is the overall payoff still positive?
Fictional evidence: Q as allegedly the last born—but where are his parents? And what about the ‘true Q’ from her own episode? They fight a freaking war over Qs wish to reproduce, but do not allow one guy to commit suicide. But handing out powers or taking them away is easy as cake. Not particular consistent.
If time comes to build a universe wide civilization, then there will be many minds to ponder all the questions. We do not have to get that right now. (Current physics only allows for colonization of the local group anyhow.) If we put in enough effort to solve the GUT there might be some way around the limitations of the universe, or we will find another way to deal with them—as has been the case many times before. Now is a great time to build an amazing future, but not yet the time to end reproduction.
Oh my god! Are you really telling me about fictional evidence here? That is what I criticize to be the case with this whole community. Why am I not allowed to use it?
Anyway, my post is not based on fictional evidence but physics and basic economics.
It’s a matter of not creating so many minds in the first place. Minds that the universe is unable to sustain in the short run. Yes, most of the future will be unable to support all those minds.